I was in this pickle myself when I was fresh out of college with a worthless degree, unsure of what I really wanted out of life. I floundered about working in foodservice or as a generalist assistant to a small business owner. Eventually I was able to land a job in a nearby city as an entry-level helpdesk technician. If I knew then what I know now, I would have landed that job more quickly. From there I was able to advance my career to a more fulfilling positon in relatively short order.
Below are the skills you should develop and list on your Resume FIRST.
At the entry level of your IT career, you will be working with people far more often than you will work with computers. You need to know how to speak to someone on the phone in a polite and caring manner, whether you mean it or not. You should be able to write an email or notes on a ticket to explain a situation or to give troubleshooting instructions in a concise and understandable way, geared towards someone with zero technical knowledge. You will work with upset, sometimes irate customers who are NOT happy they have to speak with you. This goes not only for the customer but for your teammates and superiors. If you are an introvert like me don’t be discouraged. If you stick with it you can move into positions where this is less of a constant occurrence, but these people skills will always help you no matter where you end up.
The ability to investigate a problem, eliminate possible causes, etc.. This complements the technical skills but being technical doesn’t mean you are a good problem solver. This will likely come up as an interview question posed as a hypothetical scenario.
Don’t waste your time learning programming languages or how the computer works on a low-level. You need to be able to address the most common issues an End User will encounter on a daily basis. Think: “I can’t connect to the internet!”, “My printer isn’t working!”, “I forgot where I saved that spreadsheet!”.
Throughout IT, regardless of what position you are in, network skills are in my opinion the most important hard skill. It doesn’t matter if you work with Windows, Mac, Linux, wired, wireless, workstations, servers, or phones. They all use IP networking and the OSI model, so having a good understanding of how these will put you ahead. Look at material for the CCNA certification or CompTIA Network+ for a study guide. CCNA is the most respected Tier 1 network certification in IT, but it is way harder than Network+ and requires a lot more practical knowledge.
A helpdesk position will be troubleshooting end-user devices. Windows is the most common end-user OS, so this is where most of your troubleshooting studies should lie. The Comptia A+ certification is a good roadmap for what to study. It doesn’t hurt to have Mac experience, and mobile OSs (Android/iPhone) are becoming more a part of the helpdesk’s wheelhouse so if you know plenty about any of those also add that to your Resume, but if you are going to try to be an expert at one, choose Windows for now.
You can never know everything, especially in IT. You also cannot possibly know what you need to learn to fix every possible problem scenario ahead of time. The best learning at the deepest levels of your mind comes when you encounter a problem you know nothing about, research it, and find the solution. If there’s an error message, paste it into your favorite search engine and check out the top results. Technicians who escalate the issue at the first sign of trouble without digging deeper, won’t make it far in IT.
A note on certifications: Certifications definitely help you get a job, but they are time consuming and often expensive. At the least you should be studying the material for at least one in order to learn. Many employers will pay for the cost of the test after you get a job in IT, so it’s up to your wallet and free time whether or not you want to get them prior to getting the job. If you get quality certs or enough of them it’s possible to skip the helpdesk and get a better role.
Professor Messer - This guy has a LOT of free material on the entry-level Comptia certifications. Highly recommended.
TryHackMe - Even though this is a “hacking” site, there is a lot of material that is just beginner-friendly IT stuff. If you’re like me and you like things to be gamified to motivate you, this site as well as other “hacking” resources can be very helpful. Google “computer CTF” and start reading about CTFs if those sound like fun. All “computer hacking” really is, is knowing enough about computers to use them in an unintended way.
If you don’t have a LinkedIn, make one and get your Resume on there. You’d be surprised at what can come out of the blue.